ABSTRACT
Adopting a historical approach to gender relationships in Indonesia, this chapter argues that although Indonesian women have benefited through bilateral kinship systems and their prominence in marketing and community life, cultural attitudes toward femaleness have always been ambivalent. By the nineteenth century, the penetration of the world religions, notably Islam and Christianity, sharpened the differences between men and women and undermined the special status of transgender individuals. The imposition of Dutch colonialism promoted Western ideas of correct male-female relations, especially in the family, but also opened doors to modern education for girls. However, women’s expectations that post-independence governments would support a new partnership with men were disappointed, and intolerance toward individuals who did not fit into accepted male-female categories persisted. The fall of President Soeharto in 1998 again raised hopes of a more tolerant society that would hold true to the gender legacy of earlier times. These hopes are as yet unfulfilled.
